Report: Ex-lawmaker tried to steer deal

VICTORIA, Texas — A former Texas congressman tried steering a federal contract to the owner of a business who gave him a $160,000-a-year job after the congressman resigned amid sexual harassment allegations, according to a newspaper investigation published Sunday.

Republican Blake Farenthold resigned in April after revelations that he used taxpayer money to settle a lawsuit brought by a former aide who accused him of sexual harassment. A month after leaving Congress, Farenthold was hired as the lobbyist for the Calhoun Port Authority on the Texas coast. His hiring was directed by port chairman Randy Boyd, who owns a dredging company and was a political donor to Farenthold.

Emails obtained by the Victoria Advocate show that Farenthold’s office arranged a meeting in May 2015 between Boyd and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers about a government project. Federal officials took the meeting but declined working with Boyd’s company, citing ethical and environmental rules.

Boyd donated $5,000 to Farenthold’s campaign a day after the congressman’s office began arranging a meeting for him with the Corps, according to Federal Election Commission records.

The Victoria Advocate is suing the port over allegations of open meetings law violations when it hired Farenthold. In a deposition this month, Farenthold said his favor to Boyd wasn’t exceptional.

Boyd said during a July deposition that he considered Farenthold a friend, but he didn’t think the former congressman had helped him or any board member in securing a government contract.

Boyd told the newspaper that his donation to Farenthold after the meeting was arranged was “coincidental.”

AP/Chattanooga Times Free Press/ROBIN RUDD Piper Stuhlsatz, concentrates on her project, while mom Jennifer helps out during a “Family Fun Day: Dressed in Glass,” event sponsored by The Hunter Museum of American Art, in Chattanooga, Tenn., on Sunday.